And The Beat Goes On
by Nasa Maxwell-Yuy
Summary: Sasuke's been ordered by Orochimaru to protect Naruto from the Akatsuki. One problem, Naruto doesn't remember who he is. NaruSasu, yaoi, the usual.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Ramble: **Yes, yes, I should be updating Concrete Angel. Bad Nasa! –slaps self- But in all honesty, I really, really, _really _despise that story. It sucks so very badly. So it'll probably be deleted soon. I'd hate to loose all those reviews though. –sigh- Anyway...For anyone who was waiting for Sasuke-chan In Wonderland, well, someone did that. I went and read it, and it was pretty close to what I was going to do. So nix on that idea. I really have no clue where this story came from. It just popped up and bit me in the ass.

**Warnings: **Yaoi, Uke Sasuke, original character (Who won't last long I hope...) utter disregard for a timeline, etc. etc. If this isn't your cup of tea, don't drink it. The back button is your friend. Use it. Flames will be utterly disregarded. Review nicely. Unbetad chaos. Anybody wanna volunteer?

**Disclaimer: **I disclaim.

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Tsunade let out a breath of relief as she sank deeper into the hot water, the dim light in her bathroom reflecting off the bubbles that filled the tub. Naruto may have taken over as the Rokudaime, but she was still the top medical-nin in Konoha, and she was still on her feet more then she wanted to be. She lifted the glass of blood red wine sitting next to the bath tub, admiring at the way the light reflected through the liquid.

Her blissful sigh turned into an irritated huff as her door bell started ringing. With an annoyed frown she heaved herself out of the nice warm water and pulled a robe on, stalking to the front door. Whoever interrupted her had _better_ have had a good reason.

Flinging the door open, Tsunade opened her mouth to start a scathing tirade, but the silver-haired jounin on her porch held up a hand. She shut her mouth with a snap and settled for a baleful glare. "What are you doing here, Kakashi?" A small line appeared between her eyebrows at his expression. Nothing short of war could get him to look that serious.

"Sorry to disturb you Tsunade-san, but we may have a problem."

She tapped her foot. "Any reason you couldn't go to the Rokudaime about it?" Kakashi took a deep breath, and Tsunade felt a shiver go down her spine. Whatever his answer was, she was sure she wasn't going to like it.

"There's a light in the Uchiha district."

Tsunade hated being right sometimes.

------

When they passed the under the arch marked on both sides with the Uchiha fan, it was as if all sound had ceased, except for the wind wailing it's eternal dirge through the empty husks of buildings. No villager would go here. This place belonged to the ghosts of the past.

A single light burned in the dark, a small yellow speck watching them like the eye of some malevolent creature. Tsunade shivered again, rubbing her arms as she and Kakashi walked towards that small dot. It grew steadily larger, and soon they could see that it filtered through the open door of the house closest to the gateway.

As soon as she set foot in the entryway, it took all of Tsunade's training as a healer not to gag. The thick, heavy smell of death was soaked into this house, old and dusty, growing stronger of the years, and spiked with the bright copper scent of fresh blood. She swallowed hard and walked resolutely down the hall.

The light was on in the living room, muted by the layers of dust that coated everything. Kakashi looked in, tense as a predator waiting to strike. He let go of a breath he wasn't aware he was holding, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Sasuke." He whispered, his voice slightly hoarse for some reason.

His former student was unconscious, slumped against the couch with one arm wrapped around his abdomen, the other tucked beneath his head. His legs were folded beneath him, and Tsunade could see the white glare of bone sticking out from the skin on the right one. Tangled black hair hung over Sasuke's smudged pale face like dirty cobwebs. A slowly widening pool of blood spread across the floor and soaked into the fabric of the cushions. An Akatsuki cloak had draped over him, and Kakashi had a pretty good idea who said cloak belonged to.

Tsunade let out a soft groan, feeling a migraine beginning to build. Kakashi glanced at her. "What are you planning to do, Tsunade-san?"

The healer-nin was already moving towards the motionless Uchiha, her lips set in a thin line of determination. "I'm going to patch him up." Her eyes hardened. "And then I have quite a few questions I'd like to ask him."

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So there you have it. Hit the review button. Hit it. Now. Or the Uchiha gets it!! –cackles evilly and dodges kunai-


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Whining: **Anybody remember me? No? Too bad. My muse rediscovered this (He stole my computer). So I guess I should get the second chapter up (He won't leave me alone) for all my lovely reviewers (He's holding a gun to my head), and I promise not to take so long next time. ...What? What!? Don't look at me like that! I won't!!

...you know what the best crack crossover pairing is? Aizen/Deidara. ...Don't ask.

--OMGITSALINE--

Sasuke was slowly going insane.

_He could see his family die, over and over again, see Itachi's red eyes glowing in the dark, red as the blood splattered everywhere, could feel the anger and hate rising in him. He'd clung so desperately to that anger and hate, because to let go was to give in the sadness and the aching __**loneliness**__ that even now was circling, threatening to pull him into madness._

_But hate had led him down another path to madness, hadn't it? He'd already given up everything that mattered, what was one more thing? What was his sanity compared to the darkness that swirled through his mind and soul, promising so much power, so much strength so much__**somuch**__somuch..._

_**Loneliness**__._

_It all came back to that, didn't it? He thought with a rising hysteria, fighting the hands that were pulling him slowly in two, one half of him wanting soso__**so**__ badly to reach out, to not be so dreadfully scared and alone, the other half insisting that he didn't need anyone, __**couldn'twouldn'tshouldn't**__ need anyone. _

'_Leave me alone! Leaveme__**alone**__leavemealone leave me alone!' He screamed, trying writhe away from the grasping hands. Green fires danced around him, blooming and fading like exotic flowers trapped in fast forwarded seasons of death and rebirth. Slowly, a deep blue heart appeared in the flames, growing and brightening until Sasuke was surrounded by blue-white searing __**heat**__. The insisting hands fell away, and he drifted, caught in the slow spiral to madness. Flashes of color and feeling came and went, and he slid deeper into the black rivers and white paths of oblivion._

-- --

Tsunade slumped her shoulders, swiping one hand across her forehead. That hadn't been fun. The deep gash running from hip to shoulder had needed multiple stitches, the broken leg needed to be set and healed (she didn't have the time or patience to bother with a cast) and several of the other multiple gashes and cuts had become infected, resulting in a dangerously high fever and hallucinations.

The pain in the ass little brat fighting them the whole time hadn't helped either. Tsunade was amazed at the kid's determination. It had taken both Kakashi and Gai to hold him down, despite the fact that she could easily count his ribs. She pursed her lips; the Uchiha was unhealthily thin, like his body consumed whatever fuel he remembered to give it too quickly to make any real use of it. Dark purple smudged the skin under his eyes, though whether from bruises or just plain lack of sleep she couldn't quite tell. One bony hand rested on the sheets, frighteningly close to the same stark white as the spotless cotton.

Quite frankly, the kid looked like death warmed over. Or a skeleton in a wig. Your choice. Orochimaru never _had_ been any good at taking care of his things. Tsunade gratefully accepted the glass of water Sakura handed her, giving her student a reassuring pat on the shoulder. The pink-haired girl had grown into quite the pretty young lady, though currently the lines between her delicate brows and the worry and apprehension in her mint eyes slightly spoiled the image. Tsunade shook her head. This wasn't going to be easy on anybody.

"Sakura, will you please go find Naruto? He's probably avoiding his paperwork." She rolled her eyes in fond exasperation.

Sakura nodded, then bit her bottom lip. "What should I tell him? I mean, since he doesn't remember Sasuke-kun at all..." The suffix slipped out before she could stop it, an automatic response still ingrained in her after all these years.

The older woman sighed deeply, feeling that migraine strengthen. "What ever you think is appropriate." Sakura nodded, turning and leaving quietly. "Gai, you're free to go. Kakashi...stay if you want." Gai saluted, making some incomprehensible comment that contained the words "springtime" and "youth" and didn't get past the automatic "Gai Filter". Kakashi leaned against the windowsill and immediately buried his nose in the newest edition of _Icha Icha Paradise._

Now they just had to wait for Naruto.

-- --

_He ran down the hall, the biting cold of the stone floor sinking into his bones even through the soles of his sandals. The ceiling arched over head, vaults lost in darkness, though the walls closed in uncomfortably. He forced himself to go faster, breath whistling from his lungs in stuttering gasps. He skidded to a stop, panting heavily; feeling like no air was getting into his lungs no matter how hard he breathed. Looking around frantically, he scrabbled at the wall until he found the latch and the hidden door swung open. Stumbling forward, he fell into dark. _

_After __**secondseternity**__ of falling, he stopped, though how this was the bottom he had no idea. There was no up, no down, just starless velvet night all around. Staring wildly into the dark, he tried to force his eyes to see something, __**anything**__. He took a deep breath and held it, trying to force his pounding heart to calm down. His efforts were shot to hell when a faint flow pricked right in front of his eyes, scaring the shit out of him. _

_The glow intensified, confining itself into a glass sculpture, intricate loops and swirls lit by blue and red fire, disconcertingly like that model of a heart Tsunade kept in her office. It lit a small circle, illuminating the two pale hands holding it, and the ripples at his feet. Two red eyes reflected the light like a cat's, glowing just out of reach. _

"_Take it. It's yours, you know."_

_He shoved his hands behind his back and shook his head. "I...don't be like that. You know I can't." _

"_Whether you __**want it**__ or __**not**__, it's always been __**yours**__." _

_He reached out hesitantly, willing his hands to stop shaking. It rested in his hand, fluttering like a bird. Just when he began to feel that it'd be alright, it slipped gracefully through his fingers and shattered into a tiny razor shards, dripping crimson into black. Red eyes regarded it dispassionately. "What a shame. In your hands, it might have actually been __**useful**__. But it's too late now." _

_The light died and he let out a howl like a wounded animal, his chakra flaring blue-white, striving valiantly to illuminate the dark rabbit hole he'd fallen down, glittering off __**a thousand shards of glass**__ as the world exploded into black and white._

Naruto jerked awake with a surprised snort, blinking stupidly at the scroll in front of his eyes. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, pulling the rice paper off his head. "The hell was that all about?" He mumbled, yawning wide enough to make a hippo jealous. "Guess its official. No more bubble tea for me." He rolled his shoulder, hearing something crack in his back. "Don't know _what_ Ino sees in that stuff anyway."

A soft tap on the door caught his attention and he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to make it look like he'd been working instead of sleep. "Door's open!" he yelled.

Pink bangs poked around the doorframe, followed by the rest as Sakura stuck her head in. Naruto blinked. He'd been expecting Hinata. Sakura usually just barged in after pounding the door to hell. Then he grinned, happy to see his friend.

"Sakura-chan!" He crowed, bouncing out of his chair and picking her up, swinging her around. "I haven't seen you in forever! What the hell have you been up to, woman?"

She couldn't resist the small smile, even as she smacked the blond upside the head. "Baka, put me down!" He set her down, still grinning like an idiot, and she shook her head. "I've been on double shifts at the hospital, since Shizune's got the flu. I told you that yesterday, dummy."

He scratched the back on his head, looking clueless. Sakura sighed. How the hell he ever got to be Hokage... "In any case, Tsunade wants to see you." The small spark of warmth the blond had brought froze instantly as worry consumed her again. What was going to go wrong now?

Naruto blinked. "Baa-chan? What for?"

Sakura chewed her bottom lip, trying to think of a way to phrase it. "A missing-nin was found within the Restricted District last night. She stated, choosing her words carefully.

Blue eyes narrowed and sharpened. "Village law states that missing-nin are to be eliminated on the spot." He left the question stabbing accusingly in the air.

"It's not that simple. He's...the...younger brother of an Akatsuki member...and slated to be Orochimaru's eventual container." She held her breath, wondering if just giving that much information was too much.

Naruto considered this, weighing the pros and cons mentally. He discarded this after a few minutes, and nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

Sakura let out a mental sigh of relief. Maybe everything would work out. She followed the blond out the door and over the rooftops to the hospital, descending the stairs to the Special Ward, usually where ninjas with a high level of injury or dangerously unstable were taken. Naruto slid the door open, stepping inside and nodding to Kakashi, who glanced up lazily from his book at their entrance.

"Alright, Baa-chan, what's the situation?"

Tsunade glared at him for the atrocious nickname out of sheer habit, then sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Ask this guy." She said tiredly, sounding her age for once. Tiny wrinkles showed around her eyes and mouth, indicating that she was exhausted enough to let her jutsu slip. Naruto frowned and peered around her, wonder just what all the fuss was about.

The slight man sitting on the bed with his hands held loosely in his lap reminded Naruto forcefully of one of Sai's ink paintings, all black and white. His pupils were heavily dilated, making his dark eyes look too big for his face. A silvery scar traced its way from his hairline, over his temple, down his cheek to curve over his neck and disappear inside the wide collar of the loose white Yukata that was standard hospital garb.

Something in Naruto simultaneously tightened unbearably and loosened in relief. The feeling confused him and he rather hurriedly took a step or two forward to cover it. "Who are you?

A startled and slightly hurt look crossed the pale face, but Naruto blinked and it was gone. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Oh hell! _Itachi_ was the Akatsuki member Sakura had mentioned!? Well shit, _this_ just got a lot more complicated. Fucking wonderful. "Why are you here?"

"I was sent here."

"By who?"

"Orochimaru."

Naruto resisted the urge to fetch a crowbar. "Why?"

_That_ got him an "are-you-retarded-wait-don't-bother-I-already-know-the-answer" look. "The Kyuubi."

...Figures.

"He's been interested (read, obsessed) with Kyuubi since Madara unleashed it on Konoha. If you're not careful, he might decide to take over _your_ body instead."

Naruto shuddered. "That's not _funny_, you bastard! Don't say shit like that with a straight face!" Behind him, Sakura rolled her eyes and kicked the back of his shin. Naruto grimaced and continued. "That still doesn't explain _why_ you're _here_."

Sasuke let out a long suffering sigh. Apparently he'd been reminded exactly _why_ Naruto annoyed the hell out of him. "My assignment here is to protect and maintain the Kyuubi vessel. That includes keeping the Akatsuki away, monitoring training and proper nutrition, and generally ensuring proper health." Guh. Babysitting. Naruto felt for the guy, he really did. Missions like that sucked.

Wait...what?

"Oh, hell no! Goddamnit, I don't need a bodyguard, and I _definitely_ don't need a nursemaid!"

A tired smirk lit a face that was too thin and eyes that had seen too much. "Too bad for you, moron. You're stuck with me, whether you want me or not."

_Whether you __**want it**__ or __**not**__..._

--OMGITSALINE--

Get back here and review, damnit! Or Shukaku will EAT YOUR FACE! Of course, I wouldn't want to intimidate you or anything.

It's your face.


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